"The Kaladan Multi-Modal Transit Transport Project (hereafter “Kaladan Project”) will see
the construction of a combined inland waterway and highway transportation system
connecting Mizoram State in Northeast India with a Bay of Bengal deepsea port at Sitetway,
Arakan State in Western Burma. The Indian government is entirely financing the
Kaladan Project, and these funds are officially classified as development aid to Burma.
Once completed, the infrastructure will belong to the Burma government, but the project
is unquestionably designed to achieve India’s economic and geostrategic interests. The
Kaladan Project - conceived in 2003, formalized in 2008 and slated for completion in 2015 - is
a cornerstone of India’s “Look East Policy” aimed at expanding Indian economic and
political influence in Southeast and East Asia. The Kaladan Project is being developed in
Arakan and Chin States - Burma’s least-developed and most poverty-prone states - where
improved infrastructure is badly needed. Yet it remains an open question whether the
Kaladan Project will be implemented in a way that ensures the people living along the
project route are the main beneficiaries of this large-scale infrastructure development.
This report from the Kaladan Movement provides an update on the progress of the Kaladan
Project; assesses the potential Project-related benefi ts and negative impacts for people
living in the project area; provides an overview of the current on-the-ground impacts,
focusing on the hopes and concerns of the local people; and makes a series of
recommendations to the Burma and India governments......."Part 1: Introduction to the Kaladan Multi-Modal Transit Transport Project;
1.1 Specifications of the Kaladan Multi-Modal Transit Transport Project;
1.2 Context of the Kaladan Project: India-Burma relations;
1.3 Economies of Mizoram, Arakan, and Chin States;
1.4 The natural environment in the Kaladan Project area...
Part 2: Potential Impacts of the Kaladan Project:
2.1 Potential beneficial impacts of the Kaladan Project;
2.2 Potential negative impacts of the Kaladan project...
Part 3: Current Impacts of the Kaladan Project:
3.1 Lack of consultation;
3.2 Lack of information provided to the community and
lack of government transparency;
3.3 Lack of comprehensive and public Environmental,
Health and Social Impact Assessments;
3.4 Labour discrimination;
3.5 Land confi scation and forced eviction;
3.6 Destruction of local cultural heritage;
3.7 Riverine ecological destruction from aggregate mining
and dredging.....
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/102872850/KM_Report_Eng.pdf

A preliminary report from the
Arakan Rivers Network (ARN)...1. Executive Summary:
"On April 2nd 2008 the Indian government signed an agreement with the Burmese
military junta for the Kaladan Multi-Modal Transit Transport Project. The project
will connect the landlocked area of Northeast India with the sea via Western
Burma (Myanmar) and open up trade routes to Southeast Asia. Engineering plans show that widespread damage will be done to the coast of
Arakan State, Western Burma, which is a key area for mangrove forests, shrimp
farms and fishing.2 Similar damage will be done to the Kaladan River and surrounding
paddy fields, cutting off much needed supplies of food, on which over
a million local civilians depend. Furthermore, the proposed highway is to be
built straight through the mountainous forests of Chin State, which are home to
many endangered species.
On top of this, large-scale militarisation has already been reported in the project
area, which has led to forced labour on military infrastructure, forced relocation,
extortion, physical and sexual abuse and an exodus of thousands of Arakanese
families into India. There seems to have been no effort made by the junta or the
Indian companies involved to protect the wellbeing of local civilians who already
live in extreme poverty and have been given no choice about the project."

this issue focuses on how the expanding influence of Chinese interests in the Golden Triangle region, from rubber plantations to wildlife trading, is bringing rapid destructive changes to local communities. There are also articles on opium cultivation, mining operations, the mainstream Mekong dams in China, and unprecedented flooding downstream.....
Mekong Biodiversity Up for Sale:
A new hub of wildlife trade and a network of direct buyers from China is hastening the pace of species loss...
Rubber Mania:
Scrambling to supply China, can ordinary farmers benefit?...
Drug Country:
Another opium season in eastern Shan State sees increased cultivation, mulitple cropping and a new form of an old drug...
Construction Steams Ahead:
A photo essay from the Nouzhadu Dam, one of the eight planned on the mainstream Mekong in China...
Digging for Riches:
An update on mining operations in eastern Shan State...
Washed Out:
Unprecedented flooding wreaks havoc in the Golden Triangle.

Executive Summary:
"A team of Karen researchers from the Karen Environmental and Social Action
Network has undertaken this study to begin documentation of the rich
biodiversity of Khoe Kay, a bend in the Salween River that is part of their
homeland. They also want to document and expose the severe threats faced by this
stretch of the Salween, both from large dams and ongoing militarization.
Using methods of their own culture, as well as those used in university research, they have found that Khoe Kay is studded with both plant and animal diversity, with 194 plant species and 200 animals identified.
Forty-two of these species are considered endangered, being found in IUCN's Redlist, the CITES Appendices, or both. Thus, conservation of the area will protect many globally important resources.
Endemic and unknown species are also represented, with eight endemic fish species of particular interest. Also, many of the plants and animals unknown to Western science are used by the Karen for food and medicine, providing opportunities for further research. Furthermore, several entire taxa, such as mollusks, spiders and fungi, have been treated very lightly if at all in this report, so the reader is encouraged to undertake further study with assistance from KESAN.
Lying on the riverine border of Thailand and Burma, the area is relatively untrammeled. Teak trees dominate, and therefore Khoe Kay provides a window into the biodiversity of the entire region prior to industrial development.
Threats from proposed large dams and militarization may seriously degrade Khoe Kay. With dams, the main concerns are greenhouse gas emissions, loss of fisheries, cumulative effects of several cascading dams, and flow changes and sedimentation. Militarization of the area is also increasing, having already resulted in the loss of one severely endangered Sumatran Rhinoceros."